The present invention is directed to a method and an apparatus for the hygienic preparation of medical instruments, particularly dental instruments, which may or may not have media channels and may or may not have moving internal parts.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,893, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference thereto and which is a continuation of an application which was the basis of European 0 429 960 and German Patents 41 30 233 and 42 11 744 each disclose an apparatus with which instruments can be sterilized. However, cleaning of the instruments as well as caring for the instruments by lubricating moving parts is not suggested or possible in these devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,499, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference thereto and which claims priority from German Application 40 24 171, discloses a method for caring, in particular for medical and dental instruments. In this care method, the instruments are subjected to the following method steps in an uninterrupted implementation of the method and at a single care location that allows all the method steps. These method steps are outside cleaning, disinfection, internal drying and care, after-cleaning as well as outside drying and cooling.
The instruments to be cared for are immersed for this purpose into a washing chamber where they are subjected to the above-mentioned method steps. The exterior cleaning occurs initially by blowing out the instruments with cold air, whereby the exterior rinsing with the water occurs and this is placed in motion by the air that is blown in. After this, hot water is admitted into the washing chamber, the instruments are then sterilized in the water bath. This method step is followed by an interior drying and care of instruments. To that end, they are blown out with hot air, then oil is blown into the instrument by the hot air. The after-cleaning following thereupon comprises the removal of excess oil in the inside of the instruments by blowing hot air in with elevated pressure. The instruments, moreover, are again treated with hot water which is introduced into the washing chamber. The drying occurs on the basis of the heat remaining in the instruments. For cooling, cold air is blown into the washing space. The duration of the entire procedure is approximately 20 minutes.
Apart from the fact that the relatively long heating time is required for heating the contents of the washing chamber, a comparatively greater quantity of water and, thus, much energy is required in this known method. In addition, the adding of surfactants or cleaning agents is required in order to achieve an acceptable cleaning effect. A further disadvantage may be seen wherein the instruments treated with this method must also be subsequently sterilized if they are to be sterile, for example in an autoclave of the species initially cited.